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RECITAL
March 12, 2003
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By William Wellborn
Polish pianist Piotr Anderszewski's San Francisco debut last Wednesday night at Herbst Theater proved to be a frustratingly mixed bag of polished pianism and interpretive blandness. There was a prevailing coolness that brought little excitement or insight to much of the music on the program. This was unfortunate because Anderszewski is clearly a major pianist with a definite musical personality and a strong sense of conviction about the music he plays. Whether or not one responds to the playing is another thing.
Anderszewski who already enjoys an impressive career, began the program with his international calling card — Beethoven's 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli op. 120, better known as simply Diabelli Variations. This massive work was Beethoven's belated response to publisher Anton Diabelli's request to provide one variation to a simple waltz tune that was supposed to have been included in a volume along with 49 other variations by as many composers. Alongside familiar names such as Schubert, Liszt, and Czerny are forgotten musicians such as Ignaz Assmayer, Hieronymus Payer, and Franz Weiss. Instead of submitting the one variation, Beethoven wrote one of the longest and most massive sets of variations, which turned out to be his last major work for the piano.
The Diabelli Variations call for a pianist with formidable technique and a sure sense of structure to hold this 50-minute work together. On the one hand, Anderszweski's technical control was often both impressively brilliant and remarkably refined. Beethoven's thorny digital intricacies clearly hold no terrors for him. On the other hand, Anderszweski was less successful in building a structure that culminated in a significant musical statement. The loud playing was too-often clangorous (the first variation was especially abrasive) and the soft playing, while most impressively controlled, needed more sense of projection in the hall. Frequently the hall's forced air heating system seemed more present than the pianist's tone. Instead of finding grandeur, Anderszewski presented a cool and aloof series of loosely-related miniatures. One longed to hear more variety of expression; the cragginess, the humor, and especially the warmth and humanity that are so important in Beethoven, were largely absent from this emotionally distilled presentation.
The second half of the program was devoted to the music of Bach, the last four Preludes and Fugues from the second book of the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Partita #1 in B-Flat Major. The music of Bach seemed more congenial to Anderszewski's style of playing, or so at least to this listener. One of the pianist's special strengths is his control of voicing, Bach's contrapuntal textures emerging with exceptional clarity. Interpretively, however, results were mixed with the four Preludes and Fugues. Number 21 in B-Flat Major flowed with gentle and genuine grace, whereas number 22 in B-Flat Minor seemed deliberately small-scaled and distant. Especially in the Fugue, the depth of Bach's emotional world was left largely unruffled. Number 23 in B Major was dynamic and propulsive, but number 24 in B Minor was once again too understated and artificially controlled. With the Partita in B-Flat Major, Anderszewski finally seemed willing to open up and let the music speak for itself. Gone was the emotional straightjacket, and in addition to being thoroughly polished (as was the entire program), there was a warmth of expression that had been missing earlier in the evening. Here his playing exhibited not only poise, but an engaging imagination, along with a full range of color and expression. Anderszewski applied tasteful ornaments to the repeated sections throughout. Special praise must go to his performance of the Sarabande, which was notable for its touching simplicity and fine sense of line. An elegant Menuet and a lively Giga proved to be a pleasant finale to the printed program. Anderszewski's one encore, the Beethoven Bagatelle in G Major, op. 126 #1, restored the placid and detached mood that had characterized much of the evening.
(Pianist William Wellborn performs and lectures in the United States and Europe, and from 1995-97 was host of the program "Piano Legacy" on San Francisco station KDFC. Wellborn is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory, where he teaches courses in piano, piano history, and opera.)
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Piotr Anderszewski